The chemistry of fullerenes

The closed-cage carbon molecules known as fullerenes provide a new branch of chemistry, materials science and physics. Fullerene research has engaged the attention of thousands of scientists. Initially, the chemistry was relatively slow to develop due to the low availability of material, and the need for state-of-the-art instrumentation for product analysis. This research area is now up and running, and should become the main focus of attention in the fullerene field. The number of published papers runs into hundreds, and the main features of fullerene reactivity have been established. This book describes all of the known types of reactions as well as the means of production, purification and properties of fullerenes.